Myth Busted: Minox I Holds Its Own Against Minox III

[tjwspm]

Have you ever wondered how the image quality of the very first Minox camera, the Riga Minox (Minox I), compares to its successor, the Minox A (Minox II/III)?

During the last months I dived deep into a fascinating investigation to answer exactly that question! To do this, I directly compared the lenses, the MINOSTIGMAT and the COMPLAN, of the two cameras. To my knowledge my study represents the very first detailed analysis of the image quality of the Riga Minox (Minox I). Whether you’re a seasoned Minox photographer or simply curious about this legendary camera, head over to the full article to see the test results and many sample photos:

Minostigmat versus Complan

Comparison of the lenses of the first two Minox models: Minox I (Riga) Minox III (A). The Minox I is tested here for the first time.

moments-of-now.com

 

[ic-racer]

Nice work!!

I have been using my Autocollimator to do similar. I found there is some curvature of field at infinity.
The Siemens Star on my Autocollimator is not calibrated for resolution tests, but using the information on resolution you have measured, gives me a rough idea of what to expect.

I don't have an "A" to check but I have been looking at my LX and Yashica lenses with the Autocollimator. In case you don't know, the Autocollimator views a projected image of the star pattern right on the film plane. If the pattern is not perfectly clear, it is due to the test lens resolution being less than the star pattern.

These are actual images though the Autocollimator eyepiece. Not Minox, but an exaggerated example of center vs edge resolution changes that can be observed.

 

[tjwspm]

Nice work!!

I have been using my Autocollimator to do similar. I found there is some curvature of field at infinity.
The Siemens Star on my Autocollimator is not calibrated for resolution tests, but using the information on resolution you have measured, gives me a rough idea of what to expect.

I don't have an "A" to check but I have been looking at my LX and Yashica lenses with the Autocollimator. In case you don't know, the Autocollimator views a projected image of the star pattern right on the film plane. If the pattern is not perfectly clear, it is due to the test lens resolution being less than the star pattern.

These are actual images though the Autocollimator eyepiece. Not Minox, but an exaggerated example of center vs edge resolution changes that can be observed.

That would be a great way to test the resolution of a lens independently of the film.
Is there a way to measure the size of the diameter of the blur or do you know the dimensions of the Siemens star in the autocollimator? Then maybe you could also measure the resolution, right?

 

[ic-racer]

Yes, this is covered in The Camera Craftsman May-June 1978 Vol 24 no 3. I can't use these numbers from the article as my Autocollimator (C 6400) has a lens focal length of 200mm. Also think there is a typo. My star is about 14mm in diameter not 4mm. If the star were 4mm it would be practically microscopic. So, I still need to double check the math and correlate it with your findings.

 

[tjwspm]

Great!
It would also be very interesting to test the lens of your Yashica Atoron in this way. As you know , I've had a selenium cell since the beginning of the year, which I'd like to install there. I have planned to do that soon...

Yashica Atoron (non-Electro) Repair (Minox Type)

Nice that you could check the shutter speed that way!

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